Comic Overload?

[dlalas1]

So, I think I did a big boo-boo.

I'm new to Tapastic but I've been doing a webcomic for a while. In an effort to show that I was legitimate I kind of posted half my archive, not realizing that this wasn't the smartest thing to do. After reading a lot of forum posts about how updating less frequently/more consistently is better, I think I might have totally messed up.

Luckily I've still got a large amount of strips I can post, and the art gets a lot better in the later comics, but I feel like having this massive archive is going to be a hindrance for me now. My stats are a vast ocean of 0's and they could stay that way forever now, which is a shame because:

1- this is a story based comic, so readers will be completely missing out the backstory
2- some of my favorite, best jokes are buried in those unseen comics

What do I do now? Should I just scrap the series and start uploading them all over again, only this time one day at a time? Is having a large archive with a tiny amount of subscribers/reader interaction a huge setback?

[jayorten]

What's the name of the webcomic? I might be able to give you more feedback if I could see it.

I don't think you have to neccesarily re-load the whole series. Just stick to consistent updates for now on so you can start gaining recognition. Keep in mind however, it will take a while. It took me a long time to get my comic featured on the front page, and I'm still kind of obscure at the moment. You just have to stick to it.

However, if you do feel reloading the whole thing would be the best way to go, then do that. An artist should always follow his/her conscience.

[kazukitakamura126]

This the same thing I did with my previous comic Osana: The Land of Greed. Since I posted a large quantity all at once, many readers didn't flock to it. Posting smaller amounts in frequent intervals creates a demand for a comic. I think whether you re-upload your comic or not is entirely up to you.

[dlalas1]

You can find it here.

But got-dang, if 700 subscribers is "still kind of obscure", I don't even want to know the adjective for my comic. "Planck-scale"?

My conscience is torn, which is why I posted here. Restarting wouldn't be too much effort on my part, but it would mean posting earlier, more rough work that might not draw in viewers. But it would familiarize them with the characters and the plot. On the other hand, sticking to my guns now would mean viewers get better quality comics, but unless they are really into it, they won't bother going back through 100+ comics to find out the backstory.

I guess my core question is: is a substantial archive off-putting to new readers? If yes, is it enough to make them leave and never come back?

[allenthomas]

I just went back and read some of your comics and if I were in your shoes I'd might think about re-posting simply because the sheer amount that you have my generate more readership if you uploaded in intervals. At the same time if you still have more pages and you're still working on them you'd might want to just start uploading smaller amounts on a consistent basis now. Please note that I myself have only been uploading for two months with very few followers so take MY advice with a grain of salt.

[Agentzap]

mmhmm, yeah
i haven't seen THAT big of a story base, just mini subplots here and there, so it really would be in your best interest. Tell me if you do so!

[jayorten]

I personally don't think your archive will be off-putting at all. I mean, I've seen webcomics (not in Tapastic) that I get interested in that also have a big archive, and I read them all depending on whether or not I'm interested in the most recent one. I would say just keep it as it is, but if you want your readers to read all of the episodes in order to understand what's going on, make sure you make each new release interesting enough to catch their interest.

[allenthomas]

That's an excellent point. I guess if the readers are intrigued enough by an episode, they'll go back and read the earlier ones. I would assume just being consistent with whatever method you choose to upload is the best option.

[dlalas1]

Yeah you know what guys I think I'm gonna stick with it. I've still got about 100 more comics so if I restarted I would be setting myself back by a year or two. Here's hoping people get interested enough to do an archive dive.

Thanks for all the input, it's been very useful!

One more question (for now)- in your opinion, should I go with daily weekday updates, or M-W-F?

[allenthomas]

I'd say whichever working best for you. If you can updated daily then by all means do so, however if for whatever reason life gets in the way and something happens it might be better to have a cushion even if it's just a day or two. I've come very close to learning this lesson the hard way. So even if you have enough pages, I'd say give yourself enough of a cushion to give your readers a nice fill, but keep yourself well prepared just in case. The M-W-F idea might suit you better if you have enough pages already.

[dlalas1]

I'm thinking daily might be the way to go. Even at a rate of 1 per weekday I've got a cushion of about three months so I should be ok. Though even this is gonna feel like a crawl considering I've been posting 20 per day this past week. geeeeez what a maniac!

[allenthomas]

LOL Nevermind, if you've been doing 20 per day, then you're absolutely right 1 per day should be much easier for you. I struggled with five a week, I couldn't imagine 20 a day.

[kambreapratt]

How large of an archive are we talking? We have a good size one and it hasn't seemed to be a hindrance. The art on ours is much rougher in the beginning compared to the newer pages as well.

When we were updating heavily (to get through the archive) I think we did 3 pages a week. That worked well.

Now we are caught up and I wish we had more archive to keep the updates going.

[dlalas1]

Well in total I've done nearly 230 comics, and I've uploaded 136 of them to Tapastic as of this moment. I just thought the ratio might turn people away.

Like I thought people would think "Wow, that many comics and that few subscribers, I gotta see this (they check the first pages, see the rough style), oh well NO WONDER this guy has no readers (leave and never come back to see the newer, improved pages)

[kambreapratt]

I don't think that is too daunting of an archive. We have almost 380 pages up and I don't think it has caused us too many issues. Yes, some people will look at that and run, but most won't.

I can see why you would worry about the art style, but unless your story is something you can just start putting up (without all the past story) then you can't really just cut out the first parts. I think most regular webcomic readers get that style usually changes over time and improves. That is almost always the case with ongoing webcomics.

[MylCreates]

I suppose redoing it and reloading it by bits (you can pre-schedule them) can help for a do-over. You only have 8 subscribers so it shouldn't be so detrimental to them if you did this. 1-2 a week should be a good number. Also I know (atleast from my own thoughts) that seeing something like 140 episodes is really really daunting, so if you can post multiple pages into one episodes (say in groups of 10 or so like Satan & Me does), it will be a lot less daunting to potential readers. (Trust me, I didn't read Chocolate with a bit or Pepper, Hominids, or Fox & Willow for an entire year because I didn't feel like pouring through over 100 episodes).